Burial vault



June 2l, 1932. F. L.. TEMPLE 1,863,887

BURIAL VAULT Filed Jan. 18, 1952 110 lb /0 2 4 Z3 15 Z /a Z3 l f f4 I ".ll' fl 5 /3 52 52/ l zo I3 Z0 IZ. IZ Z5' Z/ ATTORNEYS.

v l and of the saine parts.

Patented June 21, 1932 UNITED STATES FLOYDL. TEMPLE, OF TERRE HAUTE, IYNTDVIANAV BRIAL vAULT Application filed.l January 18, 1932.- Serial No. 587,207. p

This invention relates to a burial vault and" the sealing therein of af casket.-

Whena wooden casket 1s employed, a metal container is preferably associated therewith.

l VVhen` a metal casket is employed and the same .is the present tendency, the metal container is omitted. y

The chief object of the invention consists in forming an air chamber around the side lwalls of the casket, an air chamber therebeneath which may or may not be in communication with theside wall encompassing air chamber, and an overhead air chamber sealed from' the before mentioned air chambers and simultaneously with the sealing of the encompassingv concrete burial vault when the cover thereof is applied to the body of the vault. l

The chief feature of the invention consists in .forming in the inner side wall of the burial vault adjacent the upper end or themouth thereof a shoulder, and formingupon the' cover for said vault a downwardly extending peripheral flange or tongue and then associating with the coverand the vault kbody a'cement seal that, when associated therewith and' with the casket or the'metal cover, formsY the air chambers previously mentioned and thereby protects the casket against condensation forming thereon and, therefore, subsequent deterioration or disintegration.

The full nature of the inventionwill be ap.- parentfrom the accompanying drawingV and the following description and claims:

In the drawing, Figure 1 is a-transverse sectional view throughv a burial vault structure embodying the invention and wherein a metal casket is included. Figure 2 is a longitudinal secti'onal'view taken at right angles to Figure Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view of a modiiied yform of the invention and one wherein a metal casket is employed. Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 and of a modified form of the invention showing the same associated with a wooden or non-metallic casket. Figure 5' is aview similar to Figures 1, 3 and 4 but of a simplified andI modified form of the invention.

In Figures 1 and 2 of the drai'if'ing` 10 in-v dicates the bottom of a concrete vault, 11 the side walls thereof and 12: the end Walls;

Herein the end walls'are illustrated1 as having. an outwardly direct-ed or iared upper end13'; Any desired reinforcement maybe embodied" in the'vault. A cover 14 is provided which may be of natural or artiii'cial stone or may be of concrete or a similarmat'eria'l, Ifd'esired, the-'same mayhave formed thereon a plate 15 that is'of less areav than the main body of the ycover and may alsohav'e formed thereon the name plate or markerl; Where head stones are util-ized thesamemay besubstituted for the name plate ormarke'r 16 and the head'stone may be supported by'thecoveri The foregoing general'4 arrangement' formsno part of the'present invention and is specifically disclaimed herein.r l l Positioned within the body of thevault" is a suitable bottom support arrangementindicated by the numeral 16 and mounted thereon"` is the metal casket'haifing' the side walls 17, the top 18and the connectingcurv'ed'portions: 19. The metal casket does not fully occupyl thc vault but is spaced from the side and end, wal-ls and is spaced' from the bottoniV ofvthe portion 16 `or the equivalent.

Near the upper end and Aupon the insideof the side and end walls of the vault .in Figures 1 and 2', there is formed a shoulder 20 and the inside wall is continued upwardly' in the present instance by being inclinedv as at 21. Resting upon the shoulder 2O there'`- is, asy illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 ofthe invention, an angle iron enveloping struc'- ture 22. In VFigures 1 and'2 ofthe invention there is illustrated, depending from the un# derside of the cover 14 of the vaultand spaced inwardly an appreciable distance `from the peripheral edge, a peripheral `iange or` tongue 23. n

After the casket has been placed inr ther vault and the portion or portions 22 positioned, there is supplied to the vault around the open mouth thereof andV adjacent the side a-nd end-walls a considerable amount of rela'- t-ively dry cement materiah for" formingv a seal. In other words, themoisturecontent of the cement is insufficienti to permit the body of the cement to escape between the portionsV l'on 22 and the side and end walls of the vault or between the portions 22 and the casket.

lVhen the cover is placed on the vault, the tongue 23 seats in the soft cement material and the same gouges the material laterally in both directions so that there is formed a seal between the portions 18 and 19 and the top 14 and a seal is also formed between the cover 14 and the top edge of the side and end walls 11 and 12. rIhis provides air chambers 25 around the casket and a top air chamber 26, the two not communicating with each other by reason of the seal. The seal also serves to seal the cover to the body of the vault.

In Figure 3 of the drawing, there is illustrated a. modified form of the .invention wherein similar parts are indicated by similar numerals ofthe 100 series. In this form of the invention, the side wall portion 121 and the shoulder are combined in the form of a corrugated surface and nested in one of the corrugations determined by the size of the casket is the seal retaining member and chamber forming member 122 which may be angular, as shown in Figures 1 and 2 but which preferably is shown as inclined so that apressure lit is obtained between the side wall of the casket and the inner side wall of the vault when the pressure of the cover is applied to the cement seal by reason of the weight of the cover bearing thereon. rl`he tongue 123 extending into the cement material forms a seal between the top edge of the side and end walls of the vault and the cover and also forms an air chamber at the top of the vault and in separated relation to the peripheral or side wall chamber arrangement shown therein.

In Figure 4 there is illustrated a modied form of the invention and in this figure similar or like parts are indicated by similar numeralsof the 200 series. In this form of the' invention, the wooden casket, the outline of which is indicated by the numerals 217, 218 and 219, is enclosed within a metal shell or side vwall 240 and rests upon the support 216. The shoulder 220 of the side and end walls supports a frusto-conical metal member having the inclined faces 222 and the same terminates in a top 241. The 'vault top includes the peripheral depending tongue 223 and, after the casket has been placed within the metal shell 240, the metal portion 222-241 is placed over the same until the lower edges of the portion 222 rest upon the shoulder and preferably engage the top of the peripheral member 240. The cement material is compressed downwardly and laterally in both directions relative to the peripheral depending tongue 223 and seals the casket in the vault and also seals the cover of the vault to the body side and end walls, thereby forming the two air chambers 225 and 226 substantially similar to the chamber before mentioned.

reeaaev In the respective figures the main body of the cement seal is indicated by the numerals 50, 15() and 250. The seal between the cover and the top edge of the vault is indicated by the numerals 51, 151 and 251, while the seal between the tongue and the top member or structure to form the upper air chamber is indicated by the numerals 52, 152 and 252.

In Figure 5 there is illustrated a modified form of the invention wherein like or similar parts are indicated by numerals of the 300 series. This figure illustrates the simplest formA of the invention and one wherein the multiple air chamber arrangement is not eniployed. The vault body includes the bottom 310, side walls 311 and end Walls 312. The walls Vadjacent the open mouth are shouldered as at 32() and include inclined inside surfaces 321. LAn angular peripheral conforming seal support 5322-341 bears upon said shoulder at the lower outer edge. The cover 315-314 has the peripheral tongue 323 that seats in the cement seal 350, forcing the material outwardly as at 351 and upwardly as at 352. The casket isr indicated by numerals 317 and 318. Y i

The invention claimed is:

1. A vault structure including a top having a depending peripheral tongue offset inward an appreciable distance from the periphery, a vault body having a peripheral shoulder adjacent the open mouth thereof, said vault being arranged to receive and enclose a casket, form means peripherally envelopingv the casket and operatively associated at its outer s edge with the shoulder, and cement material supported and retained by the form means vand extended laterally between the cover and upper end of the vault body and inwardly of the tongue for forming voverhead and peripheral air chambers between the cover and casket and vault body and casket respectively.

2. A device as defined by claim 1 characterized by the inner wall of the vault body above the shoulder being inclined outwardly.

3. A device as define-d by claim 1 characterized by the inner wall of the vault body above the shoulder being peripherally and longitudinally corrugated.

4. A device as defined by claim 1 characterized by the inner wall of the vault body above the shoulder being peripherally and longitudinally corrugated and inclined outwardly.

5. v'A vault structure including a top having a depending peripheral Ytongue offset inward an appreciable distance from the periphery, a vault body having a peripheral shoulder adjacent the open mouth thereof, said vault being arranged to. receive and enclose `a casket, form means peripherally enveloping the casket and operatively associated at its outer edge with a shoulder, and cement material supported and retained by the form means and; extended laterally between the 1":

cover and upper end of the vault body and inwardly of the tongue for forming overhead and peripheral air chambers between the cover and casket and vault body and casket 5 respectively, the ends of the body of the vault being liared outwardly and upwardly.

6. A vault structure including a top having a depending peripheral tongue offset inwardly an appreciable distance from the m periphery, a vault body having a peripheral shoulder adjacent the open mouth thereof, said vault being arranged to receive and enclose a casket, forni means perpherally enveloping the casket and having its lower 15 outer edge operatively associated with the shoulder, and cement material supported and retained by the form means and extending laterally between the cover and upper end of the vault body and inwardly of the tongue 20 for sealing the vault.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto aiixed my signature.

FLOYD L. TEMPLE. 

